Scholars lead Lancer baseball

Jun 23, 2017 11:27AM
● Published by Greg James

Matt Clawson, Caden Cousins and Mitch Lindsey averaged a 3.98 grade point average throughout their high school careers. They were three of ten 5A baseball players to receive an academic all-state award. (Matt Clawson/Granger baseball)

By Greg James | gregj@mycityjournals.com

High school is high school no matter where you go and three Granger baseball players set high academic expectations for future Lancers by receiving high academic honors.

“It is a great honor and I am very pleased that our grades got us here. A lot of our teammates performed very well. We just could not get everything to work all at the same time,” Granger graduate Caden Cousins said.

The Utah High School Activities Association awarded ten 5A baseball academic all-state awards; three of them went to Granger High School players: Cousins, Mitch Lindsey and Matt Clawson.

The academic award is given to high school seniors nominated by their coaches and athletic director. They must be regular contributors to their varsity teams and maintain high academic standards. The UHSAA selects the top student athletes for their athletic ability and academic proficiency.

The Lancers finished their season with a 7-18 overall record.

“Honestly, our season was a little bit disappointing. We did not get as many wins as what we had hoped. We had troubles on offense. We may not have had all the success, but we had coaches that really cared,” Clawson said.

He hit .266 and had seven runs batted in. Against Logan, the season opener, he had three hits, an RBI and two doubles in a 14-2 victory. Clawson played first base, third base and pitched in his senior season.

Lindsey led the team in pitching appearances with eight. He had a 2-4 record and had 35 strikeouts. He also hit .283 and played shortstop.

“We just could not get things going. It was a little disappointing,” Lindsey said. “Sometimes Granger does not get the credit, but school is school and we did our best on the work we were assigned. I think this is the first time ever three baseball players from here have gotten this high award.”

Clawson finished his high school career with a cumulative 4.0 grade point average. He has accepted an LDS mission call to Redlands, Calif. Lindsey had a 3.96 cumulative GPA and has accepted an LDS mission call to serve in San Antonio, Texas. Both Lindsey and Clawson plan to attend Utah Valley University after their missions.

Cousins led the Lancers with a .385 batting average. In a 4-3 loss to Grantsville he pitched eight innings allowed five hits and two earned runs. He also played first base this season. He has been a three-year starter.

“I attended Granger from ninth grade on, and I made good friends and had excellent coaches. I am glad I decided to go to Granger,” Cousins said.

He had a 3.98 GPA and plans to attend BYU for one semester and then serve an LDS mission. He would like to play baseball and football as a walk-on.